Sectional wood column



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A lica i6 m e a s 7 I I WITNESSES .E INVENTOR llwrrnn 'rnrns ATENT Orlrrcn,

FRED C. BROOKS, OF PATERSON, NElV JERSEY.

SECTION'AL WOOD COLUMN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,272, dated April 18, 1899.

Application filed November 3,1898. Serial No. 695,348. (No model.)

To (LZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED O. BRooKs, a citizen of the United States, residing in Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sectional Wood Columns; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being'had to the accompanyin g drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the class of wood columns which are built up from a number of strips properly formed by beveling, &c., and assembled to produce a column of the shape desired. Columns such as this, if their component strips have no means for interconnecting them, have been found to be objectionable, owing to the fact that individual strips are likely to become relativelydisplaced by being swollen by dampness or contracted by the heat.

In view of the foregoing my invention consists in an improved column composed of a series of properly-shaped strips so formed as to produce compactness in the column as well as perfect union between any two of said strips.

My invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein corresponding letters of reference indicate like parts, and wherein- Figure l is a view of a portion of my improved column, the same being shown in side elevation and with parts of several of its component strips removed. Fig. 2is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line x of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing modified forms of the strips.

In said drawings the column a is shown as consisting of a series of strips or sections 1), having their adjacent faces cut at the proper bevel in the planes of radii of a circle which maybe described about a point centrally situated in the column. Each of said sections has upon one of its faces, as c, a tongue (1 and upon the other of its faces, as e, a groovef. Said tongue has its outer face g arranged at right angles to the face 0 of the strip or section to so receive said tongue that a snug fit is the result. It is to be noted at this point that the tongue-and-groove connection is placed nearer to the inner faces than to the outer faces of the strips. By virtue of this the column may be tapered without interfering with or exposing said tongue-and-groove arrangement and thereby weakening the same.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 the shape of the tongue-andgroove connection remainsthe same; but each alternate strip is provided with two tongues, while the others are provided with two corresponding grooves.

The sections of the column are assembled by inserting the end of the tongue of one into the relative opposite end of the groove of the other and sliding the one strip longitudinally upon the other, this operation being repeated with the several strips until the column is produced. Then allofthesectionshavebeen assembled, the column may be turned so as to have the proper circular shape in crosssection.

I have shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 the outline of an octagonal column, the outer faces of whose sections have been properly planed off to produce this shape of column.

It will be obvious that a column of various forms in cross-section may be produced without deviating from the principles of my invention. Such changes as may be made in the shape of the column are dependent upon the number and size of the strips or sections used, the angle of the beveling of their adjacent faces, and the form which is given to their respective outer faces.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A composite wood column consisting of a plurality of circumferentially-arranged segmental-shaped strips or sections having contacting plane adjoining faces and provided with longitudinallyextending tongue-andgroove connections spaced from the longitudinal edges of the corresponding faces, each 'tongue being Wider at a point remote from that at its base, having its outer face approximately at right angles to the adjoining faces of the sections, and having its opposite face disposed at an acute angle to said faces of the 10 sections, and each groove being shaped to conform to the corresponding tongue, substantially as described.

V In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 31st day of October, 1898.

FRED O. BROOKS.

W'itnesses: I

LOUISE SNYDER, ALFRED GARTNER. 

